Truman Game Notes (.PDF)
Championship Central
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Playing as a two seed in a conference tournament for the first time ever on Friday, the Truman State University men's basketball team didn't let the history stop there. The Bulldogs scored their most-ever points in regulation of a postseason game as they destroyed seventh-seeded Lewis, 103-56, in the quarterfinal round. The only time the Purple and White put up more points in a postseason showing was on March 17, 1999 in a 106-101, triple-overtime victory over St. Rose (N.Y.).
The Purple and White advanced to the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament for the second-straight year after failing to do so in their first three as a member of the league. Truman will face the No. 3 seed, Drury, who beat sixth-seeded Southern Indiana in its quarterfinal matchup on Friday, 79-72. The Panthers swept the season series over the Bulldogs, 98-96 (OT) in Kirksville and 88-71 in Springfield.
Back to Truman's quarterfinal win against Lewis. The Bulldogs' offense ran like a well-oiled machine as it assisted on 23 of its 37 field goals (62.2 percent), seven of the 10 players that got on the court registered multiple assists, eight of the 10 had at least one, and it converted on an absurd 64.9 percent (37-of-57) of its field goal attempts. From behind the arc, Truman cashed in on 56.5 percent (13-for-23) of its looks and that mark is good for 10th in school history.
Quarterfinals - Drury
After Southern Indiana opened the game with an 11-0 run, Drury recovered and took a two-point lead, 36-34 into halftime. The Panthers outscored the Screaming Eagles 16-7 in the first six minutes of the second half to give themselves a double-digit lead. Southern Indiana didn't go away quietly, though, and pulled within four with 58 seconds left. Drury's Kamau Kinder then answered with a three-pointer to get the lead back to seven and seal it. Conley Garrison led the Panthers with 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting including 5-for-6 from behind the arc.
Â
Balance is Key
Individually for Drury, only one player averages at least 10 points per game and that's Isaac Johnson at 12.3. However, 10 of the 16 Panthers that have seen time this year average at least five points per contest. In Drury's 27 games, 10 different players have scored the team high including six times from Johnson as well as five from both Andrew Ballock and Conley Garrison. The first time Truman and Drury met this year, Garrison was the leading scorer (23) and Ballock was the second time around (16).
Â
Third Time's the Charm?
Truman has faced a team three times in the same season just once in the GLVC era and that was Quincy in 2014-15 when the Bulldogs won all three matchups. Prior to that, it hadn't happened since 2006-07, but occurred much more often in the MIAA days. The last 13 times that the Purple and White have faced an opponent for the third time in that season, they are just 3-10 in those games. In that same span, the other team has swept all three of the season's matchups with Truman five times.
Â
Record Book Watch
When looking at the men's basketball record book, three Bulldogs are making moves on the charts.
Zach Fischer's 65 percent field goal percentage for this year would be first all time if the season ended right now. Also, Fischer is 22 points away from the single-season top-10 chart. For
Jake Velky, he is two three-pointers away from tying for fifth on the career chart and needs 171 points to break into the top 10 for career scoring.
Brodric Thomas needs two blocks to get into the single season top 10 and his blocks average of 1.3 is currently tied for seventh.
Â
Regional Update
In the most recent NCAA regional rankings released on Wednesday, Truman was ranked 10th. Of those 10 teams, seven of them haven't lost this week, but what's more important is the three that have. No. 2 Findlay lost in the G-MAC semifinals, No. 7 Southern Indiana fell in the GLVC quarterfinals and No. 9 Walsh lost in the G-MAC quarterfinals. If the Bulldogs can beat Drury on Saturday, things could get pretty interesting.
Â
If Truman Wins...
If Truman does in fact win against Drury, it will play the winner of No. 1 seed, Bellarmine, and No. 4 seed, Indianapolis, in the finals on Sunday beginning at 3:30 p.m.
#BewareOfDog
Â
